A battle-scarred, eighth-century town unearthed in northern Germany may be the earliest Viking settlement in the historical record, archaeologists announced recently.

Ongoing excavations at Füsing (map), near the Danish border, link the site to the "lost" Viking town of Sliasthorp—first recorded in A.D. 804 by royal scribes of the powerful Frankish ruler Charlemagne.

Used as a military base by the earliest Scandinavian kings, Sliasthorp's location was unknown until now, said dig leader Andres Dobat, of Aarhus University in Denmark.

Whether it proves to be the historic town or not, the site offers valuable insights into military organization and town planning in the early Viking era, according to the study team.

Some 30 buildings have been uncovered since excavations began in 2010. Aerial photographs and geomagnetic surveys indicate about 200 buildings in total.

Chief among them is a Viking longhouse measuring more than a hundred feet (30 meters) long and 30 feet (9 meters) wide.

The longhouse's burnt-out remains seemingly bear witness to a violent attack: Arrowheads found embedded in its charred wall posts suggest the communal building was at some point set on fire and shot at, Dobat said.

A caltrop—a type of small, spiked iron weapon that was scattered on the ground for the enemy to step on—was also found at the entrance.

"Maybe [the attackers] even laid out caltrops so people running out of the burning building would run into them," he said.

The town is dated to the same period as a nearby fortification known as the Danevirke, a 19-mile-long (30-kilometer-long) system of defensive earthworks built by the Danes in about A.D. 700.

"It's clear from the relation of the site to the Danevirke structure that [the newfound town] was of great military importance as well," Dobat said.

According to the A.D. 804 account, Sliasthorp was used as a base by the Viking king Gøtrik—also known as Godfred or Gudfred—who repaired and reestablished the Danevirke in the early 800s due to the threat posed by the northward-expanding Frankish Empire.

From the town, Viking kings or their chieftains would have controlled trade and access to the region, the study team suggests.

Hedeby, an international port and trading center in Viking times, lay just 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) away. While the Füsing site is Scandinavian in character, the buildings down the road in Hedeby are German and Slavonic in style.

"We have the international traders and craftsmen at one place, and the Scandinavian elite a few kilometers away," Dobat said.